Doom Fleet
by Team Riptide
Summary: Blagger the mighty has landed on the north land shore with his viscous horde on the ships of doom fleet. There is only one who can stop them from conquering the north lands and all of mossflower, a young mouse, descendant of Gonff prince of all mousethieves. Currently on HIATUS due to writers block.
1. Chapter 1

** Chapter 1**

Blagger the fox was a fearsome sight, he wore a golden pawring about each paw that had strange symbols carved in them interspaced by sapphires set firmly

in the gold. About his waist he wore a broad belt; hanging from it were fangs sharpened at the tips so that they were deadly weapons. Thrust in the belt was

a dagger with more of the same strange symbols carved into the blade, and the hilt was golden as well as adorned with sapphires. On his head a golden

crown rested; set in it were sapphires, rubies and emeralds. The crown was held firmly on his head by a strap tucked tightly beneath his chin. Bound across

his back a long red trident was thrust through a belt stretching from his left shoulder to his right hip. Blagger was a silver fox from the southern shores near

the mountain fortress of Salamandastron where countless seasons ago his ancient ancestor Groddil served as a magician in the blue hordes of the wildcat

Ungatt Trunn. He had left his home on a ship that he had captured from some corsairs with a small band of vermin he had gathered under him; long since the

ship had been sunk on a reef near an island far away to the east of Salamandastron. For two seasons or so Blagger and his crew had remained stranded there

until one day a giant corsair ship came sailing to the island and landed there, managing to avoid the reef; Blagger and his band took their chance and seized

the vessel whilst her crew was ashore. The score of vermin which had been left behind to guard the ship readily agreed to join Blagger's cause. Since then

Blagger and his crew had recruited a vast horde and built a mighty fleet dubbed Doom Fleet. Blagger had renamed his ship the _Trident_ after his favored

weapon and was currently sailing to the cold north lands to seek plunder and recruit more vermin to the horde that numbered well over a hundred thousand.

Food and water was never a problem as the ships were always well provisioned even for the numerous hordes of Blagger the Mighty. The fleet consisted of

hundreds of ships; Blagger had eventually sailed to the isle at which he had stolen the _Trident _with ten score vermin and taken the island from the _Trident's _

former crew to use as a base and dubbed it Doom isle. Blagger's horde had built a fortress mightier even than Salamandastron. The island had the horde's

quarters (The ships left behind were also used) inside a widespread wall along with a lake, vast fields with various food bearing plants and trees growing there

which were tended to by two thousand vermin which were always left behind to guard the island no matter how many of the horde left under various

commanders to take faraway lands for Blagger to rule. Now Blagger himself was leading a fleet of a score of ships including his own which was at least three

times bigger than any of the ships in the fleet. The _Trident_ was crewed by two thousand vermin and each of the other ships were double the size of a regular

corsair vessel and crewed by five hundred vermin apiece making the total number of vermin aboard the vessels twelve thousand. The fleet was heading for

the cold north lands where the tribe of Luke the Warrior had once dwelled. Doom Fleet was coming…

* * *

The _Trident _was making good headway with half of her crew at the oars and the other half manning the deck and doing various other tasks. Blagger the

Mighty stood at his vessel's prow staring across at the endless blue sea pondering what lands he would attempt to take after the north lands when he was

interrupted by arguing behind him; he turned to see two of his crew wrestling on the deck. He watched the fight for a moment before swaggering over and

swiftly dispatching the arguing beasts with his red trident. He then walked over to the wheel where his first mate, a ferret named Liggy, was steering the

vessel "How far now would you say friend?" Blagger asked "Well maybe bout tree days yore mioightiness" "Good, Good; bring this vessel alongside the

_Murder_ I wish to speak with her captain" "Aye, Aye yore mioightiness" the vessel _Murder_ was commanded by the weasel Eefera who was currently striding the

deck rapping out commands to his crew when he noticed the giant ship drifting towards his vessel. Eefera groaned inwardly as he knew what this would be

about. "Tell the crew to get 'er goin' fast 'urry up now!" he shouted at the steers beast. His first mate, a fox named Clipper, strode up to him and asked

"Why?" "Cause I said so that's why! If'n the great and moighty Blagger catches up to us were dead meat, donch'a realize dat?" The fox sneered "Yeah, I did

realize dat which is why the crews not gonna obey you their gonna obey me" after this he promptly ran his captain through with his cutlass turned to the

steers beast and snarled "Get er goin fast real fast we needs to get away from that giant roight away" "Aye, Aye cap'n sir!" the oars on the _Murder _began

stroking hard and the sails were unfurled. The vessel shot forward like an arrow. Upon seeing this Blagger was furious and strode across the deck shouting

"Full strength on the oars unfurl the last sail, full speed pursuit!" The _Trident _shot after the much smaller vessel but the vast size difference made the _Murder_

by far the lead runner. "Aim and fire the prow catapult!" Blagger's order caused pandemonium to ensue on the _Murder. _A searat named Akkla cut the rope

from a giant trident held in the bow of the ship. This both flung open a giant hatch and loosed the deadly missile straight ahead at the _Murder_.


	2. Chapter 2

** Chapter 2**

At the mountain fortress of Salamandastron far to the south of Blagger's doom fleet the hares of the long patrol were celebrating, having won a recent

skirmish with a corsair ship that had put in for repairs. The cooks brought in trolleys laden with many various types of food, such as the Salamandastron

special, a soup with chopped leeks, onions, carrots and bits of potato in it; alongside this they had barley bread to dip in the soup; baked inside each of the

loaves of bread was a small dace with butter melted into it and seasoned with salt. There was much singing and toasting long into the night until finally the

last of the hares drifted into sleep slouched over the table with a beaker of ale in his paw. Only one creature remained awake in the mountain, the badger lord

Tlabarus (His more common name being Slab) gazed out from his high window at the endless blue sea wondering how long lived the semi peacefulness which

Salamandastron was living through would be. Not long he thought since only that morning he had seen it in the carvings in one of the rooms of his vast

chambers that it would be so. He had seen a mouse wielding a magnificent sword against a fox that bore a red trident.

* * *

In the cold northlands a young mouse with a magnificent sword slung across his back sat by a fire in a cave along the shore; there were several of these

caves in the Cliffside there. His sword was a wondrous thing to behold its hilt was simple but pleasing to the eyes with a black bound grip and a red pommel

stone; but the blade itself was fantastic beyond words long ago having been made from a fallen star. A mole and a hedgehog sat alongside him at the fire,

the mouse's eyes drifted out to sea, the mouse was startled by what he saw there and spoke quietly "Friends, look to sea" they obeyed his command and

immediately afterwards were packing the haversacks that they carried. They reached the top of the cliff to late as the crew of the ship _Bludgullet _swarmed

ashore and charged the three lone beasts from a path leading to the clifftop. The mole and hedgehog went down under the stampede of vermin but the

mouse had drawn his sword and was swinging it in a wide spinning motion so that any vermin that tried to approach him was left headless. The mouse's eyes

burned bright red with the bloodwrath (a terrible thing which some beasts can be possessed with that enables them to battle on wildly no how many wounds

they sustain until they or their enemy is slain) he had slain half of the _Bludgullet's _crew and was beginning to feel immense pain from the countless wounds

he had taken when the vermin parted. The mouse had been about to run his blade through a weasel and the foebeasts ranks parting caused his sword tip to

thud into the ground; unable to lift it because of his wounds the mouse warrior stood there weaponless until Blagger strode by and ran him through with his

trident. The next thing the mouse knew he was lying on a blanket spread across the ground, somehow through some miracle having survived being run

through with Blagger's trident. He became aware of a searat of about his age sitting nearby; the mouse's paw began to stray to where his sword lay beside

him but then he had a thought. If this searat had meant him harm wouldn't he have taken his weapon? "I see that you are awake, do not worry you have no

need to fear me, after all why would I have healed you if I had meant you harm?" the mouse was surprised that the searat could talk so well but he tried not

to show it when he asked "Why are you not like other vermin?" but he saw that he had not done a good job of when the searat answered "Oh, that's a long

story but basically my family was part of a large tribe of searats that had settled on an island long ago. We were all very educated beasts and not given to

violent notions like most others of our kind; but one day Blagger, that's the fox that ran you through, came with his horde and ordered us to join his army or

die. We had no choice but to go, but finally today we all got our chance to escape. You see we were all part of the vermin that attacked you but we hung

around the back of the charge and slipped away unnoticed when the ranks parted for Blagger" he motioned to the bushes behind him and two score searats

stepped out from the covering foliage "This is all that's left of those that Blagger forced to join him there were originally ten score of us but the rest died in

combat or at the point of Blagger's trident when he was in one of his killing moods" the mouse rose slowly and asked "What happened to my friends? Did they

die or survive?" "They survived but not for long they didn't" "What happened to them?" "Well you see Blagger had them dragged to the seashore and ordered

to have something brought out from his ship, a few beasts went and came with three cages with ospreys in them; those birds had been starved I could tell,

they looked as if they had gone mad; well the next thing Blagger did was to order the birds let out, the same three vermin let them go and... that was the

last of your friends" the mouse shuddered and asked "How did he catch the birds again?" "Well it was clear that the birds couldn't fly, their pinion feathers

had been torn out, so they really couldn't go anywhere and after they finished with your friends Blagger had a net tossed over them and had them dragged of

back to his vessel" the mouse shuddered again and asked "What's your name friend?" "My names Slarn what's yours?" The mouse replied smiling "Just call

me Flom, you don't want to hear my full name" "Why's that?" the searat asked "Because my full name is Flomberty Nomoon Pieswiper, that's why"


	3. Chapter 3

Blagger strode the northland shore looking around at his new domain and nodding approvingly. In the past three days since the _Murder _had been sunk every

vermin in the entire fleet had been thoroughly humbled having realized just how much power their leader had in his grasp. Feeding the mole and hedgehog

that they captured to his ospreys also contributed to this greatly.

* * *

Further up the coast from where Blagger's doom fleet was anchored the fox Clipper former first mate of the _Murder _had been washed up on the beach. His

eyes opened slowly and he painfully attempted to rise but flopped back down again from exhaustion. A searat from Slarn's group that had been separated

from his companions walked up to Clipper and examined his wounds; he had a chunk of wood loosely embedded in his left leg but other than that he was fine.

The searat gently pulled the chunk of wood out and tossed it into the sea, the moment he turned away to do this Clipper leapt up and ran him through the

back with his cutlass. About a score of the _Murder's _crew had been washed up onto the beach nearby; he strode up to each one and checked to see if they

were alive, they all were. Clipper began splashing water from the shallows on each one to revive them. The fox then checked to see if his old companion the

steer's beast of the _Murder _was among them, he wasn't. Clipper pointed with his cutlass at the first one to waken completely and asked "Who are you?" "Me?

I'm Rushpaw" Rushpaw was a slim weasel who carried a dagger, a bow and a quiver of arrows. "How well can you use that bow you carry?" Clipper asked him

and the weasel began boasting "I consider myself the best sir, I could slay anybeast that's in range with this thing in the blink of an eye, that's why I'm called

Rushpaw, and I could stick this dagger between your eyes right now before you even saw my paw move if I wanted to" in a flash Clipper's cutlass was at the

weasels throat and the fox was snarling "But you don't want to now do you?" "N-n-no sir I d-d-don't" Clipper relaxed and sheathed his cutlass before

speaking again "Very well then, you will be my second in command or whatever landlubbers call a first mate" at this the weasel brightened up significantly

and began swaggering around waking the rest of the crew with the flat of his dagger blade.

"Aye, this is the life matey, wandering through these nice woods robbin' travelers. Eh, mate?" the voice came from one of a pair of ferrets that were strolling

around mossflower woods. The other ferret answered "Aye, 'tis the life mate, I just wish we could come across some form of water soon, are you sure you

know where we're goin?" "Aye, mate there's a river just up ahead. Listen, can you hear it?" the two ferrets were Medder and Lagle, brothers. Medder was

leading them to a river he had found earlier that day when he was patrolling the forest for anybeast that they could rob. Soon they broke out of the

woodlands and found themselves beside a stream that ran across a path with a ditch running alongside the path. Beside the stream was a small gang of river

rats, one of them strode up to the ferret brothers and said "Get" at this Medder and Lagle were very indignant. Lagle began complaining and saying that they

had a right to get some water from the stream, meanwhile Medder slowly eased the dagger that he carried out of a its sheath where it was strapped across

his chest hidden by the tunic he wore. Medder's paw suddenly flashed out up and down and the river rat collapsed with Medder's dagger through his throat.

The river rats, upon seeing their leader killed, appeared to be frozen to the spot until Medder called out "Come on now all of ye I'm your leader now" the river

rats quickly fell in behind Medder and Lagle chanting their new leaders name. Lagle was not to put off about this because Medder had always been the

unofficial leader of the pair. Medder began issuing orders for them to fill up whatever form of canteens they had in the stream, after this was done he ordered

half of them, led by Lagle, to forage for any kind of food they could find while he took the other half out searching for anybeast they could rob.

* * *

At the abbey of Redwall Abbes Rosemary was in the gatehouse with foremole Blorn and some of his moles. The aged otter was instructing them on a new

abbey project "I want you and your moles to make a cave beneath the gatehouse, the entrance should be about here" she stopped by the foot of the large

gatehouse bed and pointed to her footpaws. The mole tugged his snout politely and asked "Hurr, how big be's you'm wantin et to be marm?" "I would like

you to make the cave stretch the length and width of the gatehouse, if you think you can do that Blorn" "Hurr, can oi do et? Of course oi can do et marm, et

just take awhoile" at this the Abbes frowned and asked "How long do you think it will take?" "Et ought to be done boi autumn marm" "Ah, good that's not all

that long, thank you foremole I will leave you and your crew to it now" as the Abbes walked out of the gatehouse she saw Thorm, a young squirrel who was

Abbey bellringer, begin tolling Redwall Abbey's bells, Matthias and Methuselah, to announce lunchtime.


	4. Chapter 4

** Chapter 4**

At Salamandastron the waves pounded the shore as the rain poured down gloomily. Inside Salamandastron there was a slightly more jolly air. Badger lord

Tlabarus was in his forge shaping a sword blade. In the mess hall the hares of the long patrol were enjoying themselves, singing various Salamandastron

marching songs and, doing their most favorite thing of all, eating! But this stopped when Sergeant Dithory Kordyne entered. A hushed silence fell over the

mess hall and the hares continued eating in silence. Dithory swaggered over to each of the hares examining each one's uniform carefully "Dorn, button your

uniform, Diener, please keep your hat straight will you? Wot, wot? He then swaggered out of the mess hall. Almost immediately afterwards the songs and

merriment began again, but only to be stopped as Sergeant Kordyne stuck his head around the doorway said "And not another bally peep out of you chaps is

that clear?" and left. Out on the rain pounded waves three vessels were sailing towards Salamandastron, these were one thousand and five hundred vermin

from Blagger the Mighty's doom fleet who had been ordered to sail towards the southern coast and March northward to meet Blagger claiming everything for

the fox that commanded the vast hordes of doom fleet.

* * *

Far away to the north of Salamandastron Blagger the Mighty's hordes were marching southward. His forces were spread in a long three ranked line sweeping

over everything. Five score vermin were marching behind the rest with a large group of slaves tightly packed in a square with the vermin in front behind to

the left and the right. These slaves had been captured during the march from where the horde landed on the northern coast, having left the ships behind with

five score to guard each one. The section that Blagger was marching at the head of was currently sweeping across some flatlands with dunes and the sea far

to their right and a forest to their left. Suddenly there were shouts from among the dunes and the war cry of Blagger's hordes rang out "Blagger! Blagger!

Blagger! Doom Fleet! Doom Fleet! Death! Death! Death!" Blagger strode to the top of the nearest dune and looked down at the chaos below. A large tribe of

hedgehogs was doing battle against five score of Blagger's vermin; the hedgehogs appeared to be hard pressed but were slowly beating the vermin back.

Blagger turned to his first mate and trusty right hand, the ferret Liggy who always stayed by his side. "Have two score archers stand here and pelt the foe

with arrows" Blagger commanded and then turned a his aide, a stoat named Lugg, "Send a score of slingers down this dune and to the rear of those

hedgehogs and send stones into them from their back" Lugg replied "Yes your mightiness" and then turned to do his warlords bidding. Pretty soon afterwards

two score archers were on top of the dune tormenting the hedgehog tribe along with the slingers.

* * *

Flom the mouse and his searat companion Slarn and the rest of their numbers had been tracking Blagger and his horde, which hadn't been very hard, and

now were watching the fight from a hidden cave in the side of one of the dunes. They were discussing if they should try to help the hedgehog tribe and had

finally come to an agreement that they should and now Flom was outlaying his plan "We outnumber those slingers, so the best course of action would be to

strike them from behind. But the archers on top of that dune would see us before we could attack so here's my plan. We'll take all of our force around that

dune; since all the rest of the vermin except for the ones that are in the fight right now left. We'll split our forces into three and attack the archers from both

flanks and their rear. Our best hope is that those archers aren't very well armed for close combat and with the element of surprise we can wipe them out"

Slarn agreed and they set out on their mission. They snuck silently through the dunes until they were behind the archers and then splitting into three they set

out to the battle. The group to attack the left flank was led by Slarn; the right was led by a searat named Thon, and the group to attack from the rear was

lead by Flom. Soon their warcrys were ringing out over the dunes as they struck "Dob! Dob! Dob!" (Dob meaning Death to Blagger) the archers were taken

completely by surprise and the outer rank of vermin fell showing that these foes would show no quarter. The archers were swiftly sandwiched in between

Slarn, Thon, and Flom's forces. Almost as fast as it began it ended and there wasn't a single archer left alive on the dune; the slingers were the only ones to

notice and swiftly fled. The main group of vermin had not heard the warcrys from Flom and Slarn's attack and was still doing battle against the hedgehogs but

they were slowly being thrust backwards. The battle was ended when two score searats and a mouse struck the vermin's right flank, at this a ferret, the

leader of the band, shouted to retreat and they did so, fleeing in the direction of the north coast where the ships of doom fleet had been anchored.


	5. Chapter 5

** Chapter 5**

_Clipper_ the fox and his band of vermin had stayed around the ships of doom fleet and for the past few they had been sowing seeds of discontent amongst

those who had been left behind to guard the ships and had spurred about a score of vermin from the _Bludgullet's _crew to desert and join Clipper. Now they

were spying on those who were guarding the _Bludgullet _that had not joined Clipper. A stoat was patrolling the deck of the _Bludgullet _and had turned to look

up the cliffs nearby when he fell to the water with a gurgle and a splash, one of Rushpaw's arrows embedded in his throat. The _Bludgullet _had once belonged

to a golden fox called Viska Longtooth whom had attacked Redwall Abbey and failed to conquer it. The _Bludgullet's _captain was now a searat named Rega.

Rega was now at the head of his crew marching south with the rest of Blagger's horde. Rushpaw was in command of the group of vermin who were now

readying themselves for a hit and run attack on the _Bludgullet. _The ships were currently being guarded by a score apiece with the rest of those left behind by

Blagger relaxing in the nearby caves. Rushpaw was now whispering his commands to the two score (With a few left behind at their camp to guard Clipper) at

his command. "Letex take a score with you and make a whole bunch of noise. The rest of us will board the ship and head around towards the stern, once the

battle begins on deck we'll charge 'em from behind" as Letex the ferret carried out his command Rushpaw took the remaining score to the stern of the

_Bludgullet _slaying the guard there and awaiting the battle to come. As soon as the shouts and clamor of battle were heard Rushpaw gave the command to

charge. The _Bludgullet's _guards were hard pressed; their leader had fallen to one of Rushpaw's arrows which he had swiftly discharged before joining the

battle; soon they had surrendered before they lost many of their number and Rushpaw forced them to either join Clipper's cause or die. Rushpaw hid his

forces below deck leaving the former guards above them. Now he was explaining their next course of action to Letex the ferret "We'll let the relief guards

come on board and then we'll charge 'em from up here when those on deck attack them and then force 'em to join us just like those others" When Letex went

up on deck to inform the former guards of the plan Rushpaw did the same with the rest of his force saying "Come on mates liven up there, pretty soon will

have four score in total and then we'll be able to execute the full plan" The "Full plan" as Rushpaw had put it was to collect about four score vermin and then

take the ships away from land one by one; after this they would sail the _Trident _back to doom isle where Clipper would falsely boast that he had slain Blagger

the Mighty and was now the ruler of doom isle and commander of the dreaded doom fleet and the massive horde that crewed the ships of it. All of a sudden

there were shouts from on deck and Rushpaw gave the order to attack. The sight that greeted Rushpaw and his force when they charged up from below deck

was not a good one; there were two score guards attacking their former comrades, on the shore several hundred vermin were charging towards the

_Bludgullet. _With a yelp Rushpaw leapt overboard followed swiftly by Letex and the rest of Rushpaw's force.

* * *

Far away to the east of the northland coast where Rushpaw and his vermin were an army of vermin were marching southwest. At the head of the army was a

creature the like of which mossflower had never seen. The creature was about in between the size of a rat and a badger. It had a long ratlike tail with a

furless face and dark evil eyes; the rest of its body was covered with messy gray fur. This creature was a Possum! Ripclaw the Possum was the leader of four

hundred vermin known as the Fleshrippers. They traveled the lands at the whim of their viscous leader. Ripclaw the Possum killed for fun, as did his army; he

was a ruthless fighter and by no means was he a coward. Ripclaw traveled unarmed his only form of weaponry being tooth and claw, for he did not need any

other form of weapon. The Fleshrippers were marching in seek of food for their leader. What did their leader eat? He ate other creatures. Every single last one

of Ripclaw's vermin were skilled fighters and the only thing that kept them serving Ripclaw was fear. Ripclaw had had his sights set on a particular meal all

day he wanted fresh mole. He finally got his wish when a ferret and a weasel dragged a young mole into camp when they had stopped to rest. Ripclaw walked

up to the mole and killed him with a single slash of his claws across its throat, then dragging the dead mole over to where he had been seated he set upon

devouring his meal. Ripclaw seldom spoke but when he did it was always to give a command and when he did speak it was wise to obey what he commanded

or you could be his next meal. Ripclaw beckoned to his seer after he had finished his meal, his seer was a young fox named Mlin. Mlin swiftly chose a few of

the mole bones from the carcass laying in front of Ripclaw and stuffed them into a pouch she carried, then reaching into her pouch she grabbed a handful of

her charms, including some of the mole bones, and tossed them onto the ground. Two of the bones fell next to each other perfectly parallel to the other a

flower lay beneath them where they had landed then a stone clacked off of the bones. The young vixen look startled for moment before explaining what it

meant to the Possum "You see this flower? It represents a weak creature of some kind, these two bones landed on top of the flower representing two much

stronger creatures protecting it, and then this stone bounced off the bones. If the bones had not been there the stone would have crushed the flower. What

this means for you I do not know" Ripclaw looked as if he was deep in thought for a moment, then he stood and began walking amongst the ranks of his

army inspecting his soldiers. What he and Mlin had not noticed was that when Ripclaw stood he had accidentally stepped on the bones, they had cracked in

two underneath his weight and his footpaw completely flattened the delicate flower beneath them!


	6. Chapter 6

** Chapter 6**

The storm had subsided at Salamandastron and the lookouts had spotted the three ships from doom fleet. Hares lined the beach in a two ranked line. The front rank was

armed with lances and sabres; the second rank was armed with bows and arrows as well as sabres. The officers strode through the ranks murmuring words of

encouragement to the young hares who hadn't seen battle before. Then the ships ground to a halt as their anchors found the ocean floor; their crews leapt off into the

shallows shouting their warcrys "Blagger! Blagger! Blagger! Doom Fleet! Doom Fleet! Death! Death! Death!" the vermin had just splashed through the last of the shallows

when the warcry of the badgers and hares of Salamandastron rang out "Eulalia! Give 'em blood'n'vinegar chaps! Forward the buffs!" The first rank charged and met the

enemy head on while the second rank stayed put and pelted the foe with arrows. Instantly the vermin shrank back at the ferocity of the attack, this gave the long patrol the

advantage and they began thrusting the vermin back, ever deep into the ocean. A stoat named Vlor, the captain of the ship _Deathprow _was the first to notice that they were

being thrust towards deep water and shouted out "Ahoy mates! Don't let 'em get us into deep water! If they do we're dead!" The vermin realizing that the stoat was right

began fighting back with all they were worth; the sudden ferocity with which the vermin attacked threw the advantage to them and the long patrol was forced to begin

backing off themselves. Lord Tlabarus realized that something had to be done and drew General Splorn to one side "Enough of this archery. Split the archers into two halves

and send them to attack the vermin from both flanks" "Yes milord" The general saluted and swaggered off to do the Badger Lord's bidding. When the long patrol struck the

vermin's flanks death reigned, by midnoon there were only three score of the vermin forces left. The remaining three score managed to escaped and run for the _Deathprow._

Soon the ship was underway, still under the command of Vlor the stoat who had managed to survive and was the last of the captains. They set course for the north running

along the coast hoping to spot Blagger's horde.

* * *

In the dunes introductions were being made. The hedgehog tribe was a group called the dunehogs; Flom and Slarn were speaking to their leader, Spiketussle (Spike)

Dunehog, about Blagger's horde. After a small amount of debating it was decided that the dunehogs would join up with Flom and Slarn to trail Blagger. Spiketussle was very

happy with this idea; he was a warrior through and through. He carried a big battle axe across his back with long twin sabres thrust through his belt and a dagger in his large

headband. His tribe was similarly armed with every one of them carrying a dagger and a battle axe. They agreed to set out immediately and began their trek after Blagger's

horde unaware that they were being followed and watched...

* * *

Abbess Rosemary was taking her evening stroll on the walltops watching the sun set in a marvelous array of gold to the west and a light shade of pink to the east with an

almost purple color prevailing over the clouds that hung in the sky overhead. The young Skipper of Otters Horn strode up behind her and said "Abbes Rosemary marm, Foremole Blorn

wants you in the gatehouse, says he wants to ask you something about the cave excavation" the aged otter continued to watch the sunset for a moment before saying

"Thank you Horn, you are a fine young otter; I wonder what Blorn wants." With that she walked off to the gatehouse. The excavation of the cave wasn't taking as long as

Foremole Blorn had thought. They were already half done and were taking a rest when Abbess Rosemary entered. "What is the problem Blorn?" the Abbess asked "Hurr, well

there bain't be's a problem marm. Oi was just wonderin if you'm wanted us'ns to make et have a downstairs to et" the Abbess thought about this for a moment before

answering "Yes, I hadn't thought about that. That would be nice since it's not taking as long as you had thought" The Abbess then left the gatehouse and returned to the

walls. Inside the Abbey two young troublemakers were, well, making trouble. Thorm the young squirrel may have been abbey bellringer but that didn't mean he wasn't a

troublemaker. Thorm and his companion, an otter of his same age named Blas were champion troublemakers. They stole pies set to cool in the kitchen windowsill. They put

hotroot spice in anything they could lay their paws on while it was cooking to leave a spicy surprise for whoever ate whatever it was. However their most favorite thing to do

of all was to steal Skipper Horns short rapier, this they had done when Skipper was talking to Abbess Rosemary. Thorm now held it in his paw admiring it while Blas tried to

take possession of it. Thorm had always wanted to possess a blade, making Skipper Horn's the object of his continued admiration. Thorm was still admiring it when Blas

began complaining "Come on Thorm! You never let me have it; you always hog it when we steal it!" Blas made one last desperate lunge which Thorm easily dodged; then

Blas gave up, instead taking to peer out across the lawn through a small slit in the wall from where they were hidden in the bell tower in a secret room that Thorm had

discovered when he was first made Abbey bellringer. Suddenly Blas yelped in alarm "Quick stash it and let's get out of here. Skippers coming" Thorm swiftly stashed the

rapier underneath a removable floorboard beneath a bed in the corner of the room. They then swiftly dashed over to what appeared to be part of the wall pushing on it

lightly. The section of the wall they were pushing on gave way slightly revealing that it was a secret door leading onto the bell tower steps. Thorm grabbed a brick that was

lying nearby and blocked the entrance from moving by wedging it into the corner of the door inside the room and closing the entrance. Then dashing up to the top of the bell

tower they began ringing the bells to announce supper.


	7. Chapter 7

** Chapter 7**

Ripclaw the Possum was enjoying himself; he was feasting on two young mice a group of his Fleshrippers had found earlier that day. He finished and beckoned one of his

captains, Slitfang, to him. Slitfang was an ermine; he carried two twin dirks thrust through sashes around his shoulders so that each of the dirks rested neatly in a sash on

top of each of his shoulders. He also had a small slit in one of his teeth giving him his name. For the first time that day Ripclaw spoke; he had a deep gruff voice "Take three

score of my number with you and scout ahead; if you find anything worth me knowing about report back. If you find nothing by sundown come back here to me. However if

you find nothing for me to eat I might just decide to have ermine for my meal tonight" Slitfang gulped, if Ripclaw said that he would have ermine for his meal he meant it.

Recovering the ermine saluted and walked to gather the party that was to find food for their leader. After Slitfang had left Ripclaw beckoned to his seer Mlin the vixen. Mlin

walked over to attend her leader expecting the same question Ripclaw had been asking for the past few days and she got that question "What did your little prophecy mean?"

Mlin gulped not knowing what to expect from the possum when she answered the same way she had been answering "I don't know my lord" Mlin's worst fears came true as

Ripclaw's paw lashed out. There was a dull thud as the vixen fell to the ground with a hole in her throat. Ripclaw leaned forward and murmured into the dead vixen's ear

saying "I will have fresh fox tonight" Ripclaw impaled Mlin on his claws and swaggered over to his cook still murmuring "I will have fresh fox tonight" It was then that a lot of

the newer members of the Fleshrippers realized that their cannibalistic leader was crazy.

* * *

Medder the ferret was enjoying his new position at the head of the river rat band. He got the best of the food the most it as well. He had assigned four river rats to carry him

in a stretcher from which he gave his commands and did mostly everything. One of his rats had reported a traveler approaching the stream at the path and now Medder was

going there with his brother Lagle walking alongside the stretched with a spear to guard Medder with. Soon they burst out of the tree cover to find Medder's river rats

surrounding an otter armed with a sling. The rats parted for their leader as he was brought in on his stretcher. Lagle stepped forward and began speaking to the otter "You

are in the presence of Lord Medder owner of this stream and ruler of this forest: speak riverdog; tell us why you are here." The otter spat at Medder and sneered saying "I

don't care who that ugly gob is get out o my way, I'm here to get some water from yon stream" with that he hurled a pebble from his sling at Lagle slaying him instantly.

Medder stared in shock at his dead brother and then began shouting at his rats "Get 'em! He'll pay for killin my brother!" the river rats closed in armed with spears but the

otter fought back bravely. Loading his sling he battered rats left and right with it until they were forced to back off. Then Medder's paw shot beneath his tunic then out up and

down. There was a sickening scream as Medder's dagger buried itself hilt deep in the otter's throat. Medder was trembling with rage and muttering beneath his breath until

taking a deep breath he began issuing commands "Take care of the wounded. You! Slopjaw, take half of our number with you and start recruiten' new members' fer this

band. But first hear me out. We'll hunt down every riverdog in this place and kill 'em all! D'you hear me?! We'll kill 'em all!" still trembling with rage he shouted for his

stretcher bearers to take him back to his camp and he was borne off still screaming about killing otters or "Riverdogs"

* * *

Blagger the Mighty was not in a very good mood. The slingers from the battle with the dunehog tribe had come back reporting their defeat. Blagger was now walking

amongst them ranting and raving "Defeated by a few of our own number a mouse and some hedgehogs! You fools!" suddenly his red trident whipped out and a nearby stoat

fell to the ground with a groan. He swung his weapon again and slayed a weasel that had been standing next to the stoat. Then he stomped off to where his tent had been

set up and vanished inside. The first mate of the _Trident, _Liggy, was unfortunate enough to be inside the tent at the time and lost his left paw to Blagger's viscous red trident.

The silver fox swaggered over to where his mobile throne sat and plopped down into it as Liggy ran outside of the tent screaming and holding the stump where his paw had

been. The throne seat was made out of scarlet colored velvet. The arms and legs of the throne had sapphires set in them interspaced by the same symbols which were

carved into Blagger's crown and pawrings. The symbols depicted a giant ship, the _Trident_, at full sail with a fox standing at the prow. The fox wore a crown on his head. This

was Blagger; he had had a badger that his horde had captured make his crown, pawrings and throne. Slung across the back of the throne was a tapestry depicting a red

trident. The badger had made the tapestry as well. Blagger scowled as he thought about how the mouse had been described in the slingers report. It had sounded just like

the mouse that Blagger had killed on the northern coast. This deeply troubled Blagger, for if the mouse had indeed survived that meant that there was a beast who had

survived a thrust from Blagger the Mighty's red trident. And Blagger could not have that.


	8. Chapter 8

** Chapter 8**

Flom, Slarn and Spiketussle had all become close friends and now seated around a campfire were enjoying supper "Hey Spike, save some of that dunehog beer for the rest of

us, will you?" Spiketussle swung a half hearted punch at Flom, who had made the remark, and retorted with his thick northern accent which all of the dunehogs had "och,

shurrup ye ould grubswiper I seem tae recall someone stealin' me nutbread earlier" Flom swiftly retaliated "Grubswiper yourself pincushion. I seem to recall someone stealing

_my _nutbread earlier!" Grinning Slarn cut in with "Your both wrong, I stole both your nutbreads when you weren't looking" Flom and Spike turned on Slarn who promptly

dashed off and disappeared amongst his searats. Flom shook with laughter and Spiketussle turned on him asking "An' what's sae funny me wee bonny mousey?" Flom

attempted to reply but all that came out was a few incoherent splutters. After a while Flom recovered and answered Spike "He stole our nutbread because I stole his

nutbread" Spiketussle then collapsed and went into his own bout of laughter. But he stopped and suddenly rose to his feet whispering to Flom "There's somebeast watchin'

us, ye stay here an' I'll go an' see who 'tis" They had stopped right at the fringe of some woods and Spiketussle, drawing his long twin swords, did an amazing back flip and

turn lashing out with his blades. Spike came out of the woods with his swords at the throat of a young squirrelmaid who he was dragging, protesting, out of the woodlands.

Spiketussle plopped the squirrel by the campfire and seated himself asking "Alright own up wee lassy, why were ye followin' us. Eh?" for a moment the squirrel refused to talk

until Spiketussle placed one of his blades at her throat and she reluctantly began speaking "My names Bril. I was following you because I was curious; after all it's not every

day you see a band of civilized searats and a tribe of hedgehogs" the big hedgehog sheathed his twin swords and nodded "I Suppose the wee lassy has a right tae be

curious. Help yerself tae some food wee bonny lassy" Bril promptly set upon devouring anything that came within her reach. Flom stared in wide eyed amazement at the

amount of food the squirrel was eating and was heard to remark "She can eat more than Slarn and Spike put together. And that's really saying something" Spiketussle ended

the meal by asking "Do ye have any family around these parts wee lassy?" at this Bril's eyes lit up with anger and grief "A group of vermin attacked our home a few days

back; they were led by a silver fox called Blagger the Mighty or something like that. They killed my mom and dad and took my two brothers for slaves; I managed to get

away but just barely. I lost the tip of my tail to a searat called Rega" Spiketussle and Flom kept a respectable silence for awhile until it was broken by Slarn returning and

saying "Well, I believe it is time for us to retire to our respectable resting places, also known as, Beds!" Flom nodded and ducked into his tent which was nearby. Bril was led

off by Slarn and Spike to be shown to where she would stay.

* * *

At Salamandastron the long patrol was celebrating their victory over the three ships of doom fleet and the vermin aboard them. Privates Dorn and Diener were drinking ale

telling tales and singing with the best of them. Sergeant Dithory Kordyne was attempting to keep up an air of superiority and resist devouring a loaf of Salamandastron

Special. Eventually he was heard to shout "I don't care anymore!" and cause the loaf of bread to disappear in two bites. General Splorn had long given up on setting an

example for the younger hares. He now had his face stuck in a bowl of the soup "Salamandastron Special" this sight caused the young cadets to fall out of their seats holding

their sides. General Splorn finished his soup and went up to Badgerlord Tlabarus's forge room. Splorn knocked o n the door and was swiftly commanded to enter. Tlabarus

had finished making a big broadsword and was swinging it experimentally "Ah, General Splorn. What do you think of my new sword?" The veteran hare examined it carefully.

The broadsword was a simple but very efficient blade, as Lord Tlabarus liked his weapons to be. The only adornment was two emeralds set halfway up the blade. "Well it sure

looks like it could cut a few bally chunks or two out of a vermin, wot, wot" the badger looked thoughtful for a moment before answering "Yes, even if I do say so myself it's

the best blade I've ever made. I really outdid myself this time" Admiring the blade with one quick last glance General Splorn said "Yes milord you really did"

* * *

Slitfang the ermine had returned to Ripclaw's camp empty pawed. Slitfang crept up to where the possum was seated and threw a nervous salute and made his report "Er, We

didn't see anythin' o interest on patrol sir, an' we couldn't find anyone fer ye to eat sir" The ermine gulped as Ripclaw threw his arm around Slitfang's shoulder and spoke in a

cordial tone "That's okay Slitfang me matey. You know why? Because I had fresh fox tonight that's why. Aye, old Mlin the seer is no more matey" Slitfang's eyes went wide

and he staggered off into the dark camp. Ripclaw still sat but only now he was smiling and laughing. His laugh gradually grew into an insane cackle as he shouted into the

night "Aye, I had fresh fox tonight! Who am I? I'm Ripclaw the Possum the most fearsome creature ever to walk the earth!

* * *

**Thanks everybody for the reviews, they mean a lot to me. Hopefully i will continue to crank chapters out and update this frequently for awhile. Also please tell me your favorite ****character**** so far. I will try to have more of Redwall itself from now on because ****I've**** been focusing on the evil folks a lot.**


	9. Chapter 9

** Chapter 9**

Blagger had ordered his horde to stop marching and they had been camped a little ways ahead of the dunes for several days. Blagger

had been spending most of his time in his tent seated in his throne scowling when one morning he smiled. His smile was one of pure

evil; Blagger the Mighty had a plan. Swaggering out of his tent he sent the two guards standing by the tent flap to fetch Liggy and

Lugg Blagger's trusted first mate and his aide. Liggy had recovered from losing his left paw and in the place of it there was now a

viscous curved hook covering the stump where his paw had once been. "I want you two to spread the word to all of the captains of

this horde to turn their crews around and march back to their ships Except for one, Captain Rega. Tell Rega that I wish to see him"

Silently Liggy and Lugg turned and left to obey Blagger's command. Blagger seated himself in his throne once more but instead of

scowling he was smiling and chuckling and whispering to himself "That mouse will be dead before the seasons turn. Oh, yes he will.

No one can hide from Blagger the Mighty and the horde of doom fleet for long" then he drew his dagger and turned the blade over

and over in his paw still chuckling. Rega the Searat captain of the _Bludgullet _was nervous. Generally if you were summoned by

Blagger the Mighty it wasn't something good. Rega gulped and announced himself. Blagger swiftly tucked his dagger back into his

belt and bade the searat to enter. Blagger immediately went straight to what he wanted "Me and the rest of the horde are marching

back to the ships today. You and five score of your crew will stay here hidden amongst the dunes until we return. Understood?" Rega

gulped; whenever Blagger commanded an anybeast to separate from the rest of the horde it was usually to go on a suicide mission.

And the searat knew exactly what would happen if you didn't do it, the _Murder _being at the bottom of the ocean supplied that

information. "Yes yer mightiness, me and five score of my crew will stay here" as Rega turned to leave Blagger halted him "Oh, and

Lugg, my aide, will be in command. You are no longer a captain" Rega's paw immediately shot to the hilt of his cutlass but he was

stopped forever by Blagger's dagger in his back. Blagger walked up to Rega where he lay dead and pulled his dagger from the

searats back then he pulled out a red cloth from his belt and wiped the dagger blade on it murmuring "Now he can't disobey me like

Eefera did" Blagger then strode out of his tent greeted by the sight of his vast horde facing to the north ready to march. He motioned

for Lugg to follow him and went back into his tent. They held a quick whispered conference inside before coming back out. Lugg

swaggered over to the crew of the _Bludgullet _and spoke with a ferret that was standing at the head of the vermin group waiting for

his captain. After a short while the ferret fell into line with the rest of the _Bludgullet's _crew and Lugg took his place shouting "Alright

you lot on my word, March!" as five score of the _Bludgullet's _crew marched off into the dunes Blagger turned to Liggy "Pick out a

score of the best of the _Trident's _crew and send them to me" Liggy saluted and swaggered off. The silver fox then turned his

attention to a slight motion he had spotted on one of the dune tops. He just managed to get a glance at what appeared to be a

searat vanishing into one of the dunesides. Blagger mentally made a note to investigate. Then Liggy approached with a score of

vermin at his back. The ferret swaggered up to his leader's side and turned to look at the vermin, Blagger nodded to him and Liggy

addressed them "You lucky lot will be escorting Blagger the Mighty on a very important mission. Your job will be to guard him with

your life and obey all of his commands without question. Is that clear?" there was a loud chorused "Aye!" from the vermin and then a

dead silence prevailed over the flatlands. Then Blagger turned and headed for the dunes followed by a score of the roughest toughest

vermin in the hordes of doom fleet. The silence was then broken by Liggy giving the command for the whole horde to March and the

dunes and flatlands echoed to the sounds of pounding paws as thousands of vermin created a dust cloud that could be seen from

miles away.

* * *

In the cave in the duneside where Flom, Slarn and the searats had watched the dunehog tribe battle against some of Blagger's forces

the searat that Blagger had spotted had just entered eager to report on Blagger's latest movements. Flom nodded for him to begin

from he sat with Slarn and Spiketussle. "The fox sent one hundred of his vermin off into these dunes, then after awhile he followed

with a score more. Then after he left the whole horde took off marching back north" the searat then promptly set himself upon

devouring breakfast leftovers as he had been on lookout duty all morning. Flom sat looking quite troubled for a moment before

speaking his thoughts aloud to his fellow leaders. "I wonder what Blagger's up to. Whatever it is it can't be good for us that's for

sure" they sat in silence for a moment before Spike asked "Why's that me wee mousey? Six score vermin cannea do much to ten

score of my dunehogs and two score searats. Ye ken?" "Yes I suppose your right Spike. But there's something that's troubling me

about all of this" Slarn then asked "What's that friend?" "Well, there's got to be some reason why he sent his horde back north and I

think whatever that reason is it has something to do with him attempting to trap us. But how, I don't know, so all we can really do is

sit right here and wait" little did he know that he was right...


	10. Chapter 10

** Chapter 10**

Rushpaw had returned to Clipper's camp bringing news of defeat for the fox. Clipper paced the camps length five times over before finally deciding on his next

course of action. "Rushpaw, prepare them for battle. I've had enough of this scheming we're going to take the _Bludgullet _head on and set out to sea" In a

trice the four score vermin that Clipper commanded were ready and eager for battle. The only captain that had been left to guard the ships of Blagger the

Mighty's doom fleet was a fearsome beast. His name was Scarface and for good reason to. He had a long scar running from just above his left eye down to his

chin. He wore a patch over his left eye having lost it to the same cutlass that had left the scar. He had also lost his right paw in that same fight and in its

place was a curious but deadly weapon. It was a crossbow with lethal spikes running along the wooden front. No one was quite sure what kind of beast

Scarface was; only he himself knew for sure. He was actually a villainous sea otter who had lost his tail to the same cutlass that left him with one paw, one

eye and a permanent scar. He had been left in charge of the guards on the northern coast and was currently enjoying a flagon of Blagger's best grog from

aboard the _Trident _when shouts and screams from outside the cave he was in caused him to investigate. Clipper and his vermin had rushed the _Bludgullet _the

crew of the ship, having taken completely by surprise quickly joined Clipper's cause. Scarface, thinking quickly grabbed a nearby stoat and yelled into his ear

"Don't just stand there gawking! Gather up ten score of this lazy lot and attack!" as the stoat scurried off to do his bidding Scarface slunk quietly through the

nearby brush towards the _Bludgullet _reaching the edge of cover Scarface set an arrow to his crossbow and, aiming carefully sent the arrow flying. Letex the

ferret was rushing around relaying commands from Clipper and Rushpaw when Scarface's arrow hit him. The arrow took him through the throat and he

collapsed to the deck with a scream. Rushpaw was just walking up from the captain's cabin of the _Bludgullet _when he saw Letex fall. Whipping out his bow

and an arrow Rushpaw lived up to his name sending an arrow flying in the direction of the bushes where Scarface was hiding so fast that if you had blinked

you would have missed it. He was rewarded by a scream as his well aimed arrow hit Scarface in his remaining paw.

* * *

At the peaceful abbey of Redwall Skipper Horn could not find his short rapier. He was wandering around the abbey grounds slowly drifting towards the bell

tower muttering "I'll bet it's that villain Thorm again. Really he has no right to be abbey bellringer" When he reached the top Thorm and Blas the two

champion trouble makers, were just beginning to ring the bells to announce supper. Horn halted them asking "I don't suppose either of you just happen to

know where my rapier got to?" Blas was the one to answer "Yes we do Skipper, here it is, we found it by the abbey pond and we were just about to bring it to

you after we finished up here" Blas produced the short rapier from beneath his cloak and handed it to Skipper Horn who thanked him and left. Thorm the

squirrel stared at Blas in bewilderment "But, how did you get it? I put it underneath the floorboard" the young otter winked at his companion in crime "I got it

back out when you were jamming the door. I figured we'd better give it back before we got in trouble"

* * *

Private Blyn, one of the young cadets of the Long Patrol, had been knocked out cold during the battle on the shores of Salamandastron. Now he woke slightly,

tucked in between two rocks he had been completely overlooked in the search for any wounded or dead. Rising slowly he staggered about in a daze for two

whole days before finally collapsing from exhaustion in a small woodland glade. When he recovered he felt very refreshed. He rose and walked over to a

nearby bush with small berries growing on it. Picking one of them and fervently hoping it was edible he swiftly devoured it commenting aloud "Must be one of

those strawberry things that the cooks used sometimes back at jolly old Salamawhatsit. Wot, wot?" he then proceeded to devour half of the berries on the

bush, then he picked the rest and put them in a pouch he carried hanging from his belt. He sat there for awhile wondering what his next course of action

would be when he realized that his canteen was empty, after him having drunk it all in his dazed trek from Salamandastron to where he was now. Rising he

began walking straight ahead hoping to come across some water. By about midnoon he had located the stream running across the path where Medder had

slain the otter. Walking over to the stream he drank deeply from it, and then he filled his canteen by submerging it for a few moments in the stream. Looking

around to examine his surroundings his eyes eventually came to rest on the spot where the dead otter still lay. Walking over to the otter Blyn gently loosed

the otters sling from its paw then, turning the body over he unhooked the pouch of stones from the otter's belt and attached it to his own with the long cord

that hung from the pouch. Then taking the otter's canteen he filled it in the stream and slung it over his shoulder with his own. He then examined the wound

in the otter's throat "Hmm, that's a bally dagger wound, wot, wot? Poor chap, whoever the blighter was he didn't give this poor fellow a chance to fight back,

that's for sure" after awhile the young hare buried the slain otter and strode off down the path neatly hopping over the stream.

* * *

**Sorry i took so long to update :( iv'e been pretty busy lately but hopefully i will be back on track now. Also i would like to thank Sebias of Redwall and Firestar the Warrior for reviewing.**


	11. Authors Note

**I am sorry guys, i have not posted for a month now and it will be longer. The beginning of school had a bit to do with it but majorly the reason is writers block for this story. I know where i want this story to go and what some major bits and pieces are going to be but i'm struggling with the huge empty space leading up to said things. This is why this story is going on temporary HIATUS sorry.. I will however be going over the chapters bit by bit and changing the style in which they are written to make it easier to read because of several suggestions and the fact that i looked over the story and it frankly looks ugly.**


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